Dove Self-Esteem Project (DSEP)

Ad Plan

The Company
A company that specializes in "fast-moving consumer products," or FMCG, Unilever is one of
the biggest in the world. This company is responsible for producing some of the most well-known and
well-loved brands in the world, including Dove, Lynx, PG Tips, Ben & Jerry's, Sure, Magnum, Knorr,
and Hellmann's, to mention just a few. The whole supply chain for Unilever's goods is managed by the
company, beginning with product development and sourcing and continuing all the way through
manufacturing, marketing, and distribution. There are 165,000 employees worldwide involved in the
production of brands that are distributed in 190 countries and are used every day by two billion people.
In the 1890s, William Hesketh Lever, the founder of Lever Brothers, laid down his thoughts for
his revolutionary new product, Sunlight Soap. This product was essential in bringing cleanliness and
hygiene to the forefront of public consciousness in Victorian England. It aimed "to make cleanliness
usual; to minimize labor for women; to nurture health and contribute to personal beauty, so that life may
be more joyful and gratifying for the individuals who use our goods," as stated in the mission statement of
the company. This awareness of the company's place in the world and commitment to its objective have
long been ingrained in the Unilever culture. In the 21st century, we are still assisting people to look good,
feel well, and get more out of life. Our mission as a company is to "make sustainable living normal," and
these are all things that we help people with.
Globally, Unilever employs 165,000 people, and their products can be found in 190 different
countries (and are used by 2 billion people on a daily basis). The Enterprise & Technology Solutions
Support (ETS) division of Unilever is the worldwide business unit responsible for managing the
company's shared business services as well as its Technology services, solutions, and innovations.

The Product
In 1957, in the United States of America, Dove launched its first product, a groundbreaking new
beauty washing bar. Dove's renowned Beauty Bar, which contains its proprietary combination of gentle
cleansers and a quarter of a moisturizing cream, rinses cleaner than soap, leaving behind skin that is
clean, soft, and smooth. It is the number one brand that dermatologists in the United States, Canada, and
France suggest, and it has significant support from dermatologists all around the globe.
Dove has been striving for more than 17 years to make beauty a source of confidence rather than
fear in the world. Authenticity is what makes anything beautiful; it's not about size, shape, or color at all.
Unique. Real. By engaging them with goods that provide exceptional care, the company hopes that all
women will accept the invitation to experience beauty on their own terms.
Dove is concerned about the well-being of all women, including those who do not identify with
any gender. This product has the goal of redefining beauty standards and assisting individuals in having a
more positive experience with regard to their body image. It is concerned about the next generation, as
seen by its participation in the Dove Self-Esteem Project, which aims to assist young women in
developing a healthy sense of self-esteem and ensure that the world they will inherit is free of unhealthy
ideals of beauty. Dove is concerned about the process by which its goods are manufactured and the
components that go into them, the effect those products have on our earth, and the means by which those
products may work toward a better and more environmentally friendly way of being.

Women have traditionally served as the source of creativity for the goods. Since the very
beginning, the individuals behind have been completely dedicated to giving exceptional care to all women
and to promoting real women and genuine beauty in all of our advertising. This commitment to
excellence has been in place since the founding of the company.

Advertising
Dove’s advertising strategy roots from their tagline “Real Beauty”. Dove introduced a
revolutionary advertising campaign in 2005 called "The Dove Campaign."
A movement in support of natural beauty. The problem posed by the cause marketing campaign
ladies all around the world to reevaluate their preconceived conceptions of what constitutes beautiful. The
efficiency of it all. The credibility of the campaign on Dove's part in the cause is the key to its success in
generating revenues. The purpose of the following thesis is to assess how successful the Dove campaign
has been in its pursuit of Real Beauty, in regard to both the benefits it has on Dove sales and the selected
purpose in Real Beauty's America.
According to commissioned research by Unilever titled “THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT
BEAUTY: A GLOBAL REPORT”(Etcoff et al., n.d.), When asked to describe their appearance, the terms
"natural" (used by 31%) or "average" (used by 29%) are the ones that the vast majority of women
throughout the globe feel most at ease using. When asked to describe their appearance, just 2% of women
throughout the globe choose the word "beautiful." This percentage is significantly lower than the
percentage of women who select the words "pretty" (9%), "feminine" (8%), "good-looking" (7%) or
"cute" (7%). According to the findings of the analysis, this failure to identify with the term "beautiful" is
consistent across all age groups. In fact, just 4% of people in the age range of 18 to 29 would use the
word "beautiful" to describe their appearance.
As a result, "beautiful" is not just a term that women are unlikely to use to describe their
appearance; it is also a phrase that many people feel "uncomfortable" using to describe themselves. This
amount of "discomfort" demonstrates how far women have strayed from today's conception of feminine
beauty. Importantly, women of all ages feel this way. Thus, 40% of 18–29-year-olds strongly agree that
they do not feel comfortable characterizing themselves as attractive, as do 43% of 30–44-year-olds and
42% of 45–64-year-olds. A country-by-country analysis shows that women in the United Kingdom are
more likely than women in other nations to be uncomfortable characterizing themselves as attractive,
followed by women in Argentina, Italy, and the United States.
Dove used the beauty backlash to shift the topic from the three private realms to the public,
launching a worldwide discourse amongst all women. Dove stunned the country with its initial
commercial, which featured eight actual women wearing just in their underwear. The advertisement was
unlike any other now appearing in periodicals. Dove was able to reinvent itself from a beauty brand to a
personal care brand as a result of the significant change, while simultaneously branding every beauty
company as "evil" for offering such unrealistic, destructive images of beauty. Dove's success as a
personal care brand provided the ideal platform for the introduction of additional goods. Hair care,
deodorant, shower gels, and skin care products were among them.
Dove's goal after the first shock was to get women to speak out. Dove debuted a new series of
advertisements portraying a lady with a perceived beauty imperfection, inviting women to check off a box
with a positive or negative quality such as "wrinkled or lovely." It also encouraged women to participate
in the beauty discussion. This action sparked one of the most effective types of advertising: word of
mouth. Women started freely joining blogs and communicating with four friends, neighbors, and
instructors. Furthermore, the campaign generated a lot of press, with articles appearing in hundreds of
news outlets on a daily basis.
To further strengthen Dove's connection to the cause, the Dove Self Esteem Fund was created,
with every purchase funding the endeavor. Self-esteem seminars were designed as part of the fund to
assist young girls perceive themselves as attractive persons. Mother Daughter Workshops were created in
response to customer dissatisfaction with Dove's only concentration on media. The workshop gave a face
to the enigmatic fund. Consumers actively seeking additional information drove massive traffic to the
Dove website. This realization inspired the development of three viral videos aimed at exposing the
beauty business, namely Evolution, Onslaught, and Amy. Dove now possessed the brand equity of true
beauty, thus with no mention of Dove goods (a wise choice given the young media's cynicism), sales
increased.
To re-stir the pot, Dove developed an ad unsuitable for television. The Pro-Age commercials
showed naked elder ladies. Consumers were outraged at major television networks for prohibiting
wrinkles while allowing less-appropriate, younger ladies to parade about in front of the audience.
Consumers were compelled to act.
When the economy shifted and sales fell, Dove had to refocus on the quality of their goods. The
Go Fresh ad emphasizes the freshness of the ingredients as a compelling incentive to spend more money
on Dove products. It is a message that cannot be conveyed via cause marketing.
Cause marketing is an effective marketing strategy that connects a for-profit company with a non-
profit organization for mutual gain. It has grown in popularity as the market has gotten more saturated
and shop brands have become more competitive (Why). Furthermore, media fragmentation makes it more
difficult for businesses to command higher prices (Why). According to research, today's customer expects
more from companies. Consumers want to buy things that reflect their particular ideals (Why).
Companies that form a social relationship with their customers by addressing their feelings and
connecting them to a cause see greater revenue and brand engagement (Why).

Target Audience
Over the course of the last ten years, the company has run a number of ads with the dual goals of
educating the public and changing their opinions of what constitutes beauty in women. Dove's products
are designed to have a beneficial effect on consumers' bodies as well as their emotions by instilling in
them the positive qualities of being outgoing and sociable. Because of this, the primary demographic that
Dove seeks to appeal to is made up of women between the ages of 18 and 35 who place an emphasis on
their natural beauty. This demographic consists of highly engaged women who are also active on social
media and digital platforms.
Dove's advertising campaigns are directed for women of the middle and higher classes who are
concerned about their appearance and want to take extra care of their bodies. Dove meets the bill when it
comes to being a product that women want to purchase since it has minimum to no harmful chemical
impacts on their bodies and hair, respectively.
Through employing a marketing approach that places a strong emphasis on empathy, Dove has
significantly expanded its ability to reach its core demographic. Dove is able to address the bigger
concerns that are prevalent among women of varying ages by using various campaigns, which in turn
increases the position of the brand in the eyes of potential customers.

“Zian, a 20 year old female office worker with bigger build, darker skin and curly hair who rents
and apartment in New York after leaving her hometown in Vietnam to pursue a career in fashion
advertising”

Competition
In an article by Carufel, in 2019, A new paradigm that capitalizes on and fortifies the emotional
connections that already exist between a person and a brand is referred to as "brand intimacy." According
to the analysis from 2017, the top-rated intimate brands have continued to outperform the S&P and
Fortune 500 indexes over the previous 10 years in terms of both sales and profit. Amon these brands,
Olay ranks the highest followed by Dove.
Olay is making an effort to capture the attention of millennials by marketing its skin care
products as being easy to use and readily available. Artificial intelligence has been included into Olay's
website for the last four years, and the company has also been doing customer research in the background
in order to produce individualized goods. Because of this, the company released a solution that works
more quickly in January, therefore enhancing the promise that the brand makes that noticeable effects
would be seen in 28 days. According to Olay's parent company, Procter & Gamble, the Olay facial skin
care brand has a market share of about 6 percent, making it one of the most successful facial skin care
brands in the world. Olay is a mass brand that can be found in stores like CVS and Target, as well as
online.
According to Stephanie Robertson, director of North American Skin Care at Procter & Gamble
Company, it makes sense for the brand to position itself as accessible to customers due to its mass
presence. Rather than positioning itself as part of an aspirational lifestyle that customers try to live up to,
it makes sense for the brand to position itself as accessible to customers. Olay launched a splashy ad
called "Face Anything," starring renowned women such as Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman and the co-
founder of Refinery 29, Piera Gelardi. The goal of the campaign is to promote the idea that Olay products
are "convenient." According to Robertson, Olay is attempting to appeal to a wide range of women by
showcasing various types of women, each with their own unique history, hobbies, and stories, in an effort
to demonstrate that the brand is able to assist customers regardless of who they are. The campaign is
being highlighted in a 10-page spread in the September edition of Vogue, on multiple billboards located
in Times Square, and on Olay's very own makeup-free catwalk that takes place during New York Fashion
Week.

Ad Strategy
 My idea for the ad is to design a mobile game countering the competitor’s idea of indulgence and
accessibility. This mobile will be designed as a simulation game where players will decide on scenarios
that would affect the characters life in the game.
For example:
Jenna wanted to excel at work but she’s the only Asian female in the company, how would she
shine?
a. Develop her confidence by washing her hair well with dove shampoo
b. Ruin her co-workers’ tasks by disturbing them with gossips
c. Don’t do anything

Each choice when chosen shall result to different outcomes which leans toward the main theme of “Real
Beauty”. The mobile app would also be prompting positivity notes on scheduled time of the day
promoting the products.

For example:
Good morning beautiful! Take good care of your skin by using Dove Beauty Bar and don’t forget to
drink lots of water!
The game will also include in-game reminders of the routines the player usually does.
For example:
Oh no! Jenna is already out of Dove Shampoo! Refill now?
Thanks for refilling Jenna’s Dove Shampoo, how bout you? Did you refill yours?

Persuasive Techniques
This ad plan and strategy will mainly use two persuasion techniques : Association and Sentimentality.
A. Association
This advertising approach will make use of association to trigger good sentiments and ideas that
coincide with the message we are attempting to express, so reinforcing our idea of what constitutes true
beauty. In this sense, the advertisement aims to actually arouse a certain feeling from the consumers by
allowing them to decide for the game's main character, thereby giving them some sort of fulfillment that
we eventually aim to link or associate with Dove's product. In other words, the ad wants to make the
consumers feel like they have some sort of control over the game. According to Leng and Ho Keat's
research from 2011, they found that there is a correlation between consumers' views of the game and the
amount of information they were able to recollect about it. It was stated in an article written by Herrewijn,
L. in 2014 that brand name recognition, the effects of our two manipulations indeed interacted with each
other, demonstrating that game controller primarily affects the central placements, while the peripheral
placements are not influenced at all. The article was published. In addition, there are large variations in
awareness rates between the various placement types when the symbolic controller condition is present,
while there are no such changes when the mimetic controller condition is present. As a result, we see
floor impacts while playing with the mimetic controller as well as when the awareness rates of the
peripheral locations are measured.
B. Sentimentality
A study published in with the title "The impact of emotional appeal and the media context on the
effectiveness of commercials for not-for-profit and for-profit brands" investigated the impact of emotions,
both ad- and context-evoked, on the effectiveness of commercials for not-for-profit as opposed to for-
profit brands. This establishes a connection between the successful stimulation of sentiments of pleasure,
comfort, and joy via the use of emotional imagery (particularly those of families, children, and animals).
The interactive game will allow the advertisement to present relevant situations to the user or customer,
which will make it possible for them to employ emotional imagery associating any sensation that they had
during that particular period of gaming time to the product that they used in-game.

Concept Demonstration
 Sources

Brand intimacy: Olay, Dove most emotionally connected health, hygiene brands. (2019, March

24). Retrieved November 2, 2022, from https://www.agilitypr.com/pr-news/public-

relations/brand-intimacy-olay-dove-emotionally-connected-health-hygiene-brands/

Carufel, R. (2019, March 23). Which health & hygiene brands ranked highest in brand intimacy?

Retrieved November 2, 2022, from

https://www.agilitypr.com/pr-news/public-relations/which-health-hygiene-brands-ranked-

highest-in-brand-intimacy/

Etcoff, Dr. N., Orbach, Dr. S., Scott, Dr. J., & D’Agostino, H. (n.d.). “THE REAL TRUTH

ABOUT BEAUTY: A GLOBAL REPORT” (Commissioned Dissertation). Unilever Beauty

Brand.

Herrewijn, L. (2014). Recall and recognition of in-game advertising: the role of game control.

Frontiers. Retrieved from https://www.frontiersin.org

The impact of emotional appeal and the media context on the effectiveness of commercials for

not-for-profit and for-profit brands. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2022, from

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13527266.2011.619555?

journalCode=rjmc20